ST. PETERSBURG, June 8 (RIA Novosti) - The shortage of highly-skilled personnel in Russia is one of the major obstacles to economic growth, along with inflation, the economics minister said on Sunday.

Speaking at the 12th International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, now in its third and final day, Elvira Nabiullina said investment and greater labor productivity, which requires highly-skilled workers, are vital to economic growth.

However, the minister said that there is a shortage of qualified staff in almost all areas of the economy, and that this is holding back growth.

She also said the Economics Ministry is preparing a package of anti-inflationary measures.

Russia's State Statistics Service (Rosstat) earlier said that inflation in Russia hit 7.7% from January 1 to June 1 compared with 4.7% in the same period last year.

Nabiullina said that the government maintains its inflation forecast of 10.5% for the whole of 2008, adding that inflationary processes are influenced by a host of factors, including the large capital inflow and world food price hikes.

"Inflation of 7.7% for the first five months of the year worries us. This is very high level of inflation," she said.

The Russian Economics Ministry expects food prices to stabilize and even decline, contributing to slower inflation, in the second half of the year, Nabiullina said, adding that grain prices had started to drop and that a seasonal drop in vegetable and fruit prices was expected.